Gulags and the Purges

Read pages 14 - 17 in "Stalin & the Soviet Union - III"

The Gulag System

1. What type of construction projects were built using the Gulag system?
The slaves worked on tasks set up by the Five Year Plans that were really big and ambitious, such as the canal from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea.


2. What were the conditions of the work camps?
In camps: They were located in remote areas of the country or sometimes in towns and cities in full view of the public. They were surrounded by barbed wire and watch towers. Although conditions varied from camp to camp, they were generally really bad. There was a rationing system which depended on how much and what quality of work they did. They have food in the morning (4-5 AM) and in the evening (5-7 PM) but would never get food during the 12 hours of work.
Conditions while working on projects: The workers did the labor entirely without machinery. They worked long hours in all weather conditions. The workers were promised to be set free after the project was completed, and some were, but most of them were transferred to other construction projects in the USSR.

3. Why do you think slave labor was used in the projects rather than paid laborers?
The USSR didn't have to pay the slaves and didn't have to try to keep them happy because it was forced labor. It was easier for the country to "take care" of slaves by giving them the poorest conditions just to keep them alive, than to keep workers happy and well paid. Also, they needed money that they would be paying them for the projects that they were building.


Purges, Show Trails and Terror

4. What were the issues surrounding Kirov's murder? Why do you think he had been murdered?
He was a member of the politburo and was the secretary of the Leningrad branch of the communist party. He was shot by Nikolayev, who had been seen by the police at Kirov's office a few days before the murder, but the police let him go despite his possession of a gun. Also, Kirov's body guard wasn't with him that day, and he was killed the next day in a car crash. On the same day as Kirov's murder, Stalin announced that anybody accused of "terrorism" would be investigated right away and executed immediately after conviction. There would be no appeal of right of defense. Nikolayev was tried and executed. I think that the secret police (under Stalin's orders) let Nikolayev kill Kirov because he was a possible rival to Stalin's position of supreme leader. Kirov was very popular among the people and Stalin couldn't risk someone else being as popular as himself.

5. What was the Great Purge? What specific group did it target?
It was a series of mass arrests during 1935-1938. The goal was to expel members who were unreliable. This meant many things, in one case, if they were ever supporters of Trotsky. People were asked to request investigations of people the might think are questionable as to their reliability/loyalty to the communist party.

6. What was the purpose of the Show Trials?
Some of the most important party members arrested by the NKVD (secret police) were given public trials to which the press were invited and were given maximum publicity. Most were found guilty of corruption/disloyalty and were shot. The purpose of these trials was to scare the public into being loyal and seeing what would happen if you weren't.

7. What was the Great Terror?
There was no way to know who was safe to talk to. Everyone had the potential of being a "terrorist."